November 16, 2006: Factory made, and improvised, land mines have caused nearly a thousand casualties so far this year, 21 percent of them fatal. The FARC rebels have been making more use of mines and booby-traps to slow the advance of soldiers into rebel controlled territory. But the mines are placed along the same routes used by civilians. Worse, the rebels usually don't record the location, or remove the mines after they have served their purpose. The rebels mine a route, and then just tell their people not to use it any more. Naturally, even some rebels are being killed and injured by these mines. Clearing these devices is particularly difficult, because you don't know where they are, and seasonal rains and mud slides, can move them around as well. These FARC mines will be a problem for years to come.
November 10, 2006: Eight politicians are under arrest, or investigation, for being on the payroll of the AUC, the rebel organization that is in the process of disbanding. A decade ago, there was a similar scandal involving fourteen politicians found to be in the pay of FARC rebels.
